I read the following extract from an American Facebook post. For those unaware of American driving, a “stick or stick shift” is a manual gearbox instead of an automatic.
“As I was pulling into work, I was following this car. The sign in the back window says, “Learning stick sorry for any delay.” Knowing this information, I was very patient with their slow shifting, and honestly, they were doing pretty well for still learning. Then I asked myself a tough question: Would I have been just as patient if the sign hadn’t been there? I can almost definitely say no.
We don’t know what someone is going through. We don’t wear signs that illustrate our personal struggles. You don’t see signs taped to people’s shirts that say, “Going through a divorce”, “Lost a child”, “Feeling depressed”, or “Diagnosed with cancer”.
If we could read visually what those around us are going through we would definitely be nicer. But we shouldn’t have to see signs and have reasons to treat strangers with kindness. We should do it anyway, whether we know what is going on or not. Whether they deserve it or not.”
Reading that, I considered that equally applies when we are in church together. I recall at one service the speaker encouraged the congregation, “Let’s all say Hallelujah together”, to which one lady muttered, “I will say Hallelujah when I feel like it, not because I am told to!”
The Bible, in Matthew chapter 9 verse, tells us that when Jesus saw the crowds, He had compassion on them because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, because of our ignorance of how people we meet are feeling, please give us a heart of compassion that enables us to be Christlike and not judgemental. AMEN